The "Art" of Survival

In the novel MAUS, Vladek’s trauma from the past manifests itself into physical features of the present to show that he can’t escape the Holocaust and his horrifying experiences. On page 79 of Volume II, this trauma is shown by the “four young girls” (Spiegelman 79) and their hanging bodies. As he tells the story, Vladek physically sees the bodies hanging in the woods just outside of the car window. Although this panel takes place in the present, Vladek sees his trauma manifest right in front of him. It is so boundless that his past and present have melded, creating a never-ending nightmare. 

Vladek associates many traumatic elements of the past with his surroundings. The mere fact that something as normal as driving through a wooded area could trigger such trauma is eye-opening. In the panel, it is shown that Vladek associates the woods with his experience at Auschwitz, so the trauma appears in his present life. 

The trauma that Vladek faces every day could also explain his constant irritability.  Every day, he is forced to relive the worst years of his life. Although some Jewish people survived the war, Hitler did win in one sense. The survivors are so traumatized that they can never truly escape. This begs the question: are they really surviving? This ideation of being trapped is also why Vladek has no sense of past or present. Instead of differentiating them, he is stuck in his time at Auschwitz. The trauma that manifests not only furthers the feeling of entrapment but leaves Vladek in a constant fight for survival.

A Very Original Title to a Very Original Post

As I walked into English on Thursday, I felt pretty okay about the rough draft of my synthesis essay. However, after reading the samples from previous students, I was astonished to see that I had perceived the structure completely wrong and would need to rewrite it. This was pretty uncomfortable for me, as I rarely have problems in essay writing, but it was reassuring to see many of my classmates in the same boat.  

 

In my case, I find it very hard to write almost solely based on my opinion, so naturally most of my argument was based on the opinions of the authors that I’d analyzed. But seeing this many of my classmates in the same boat as I got me thinking. At first, I couldn’t pinpoint why I was struggling, but then it hit me. It is hard to form an original opinion when the world around us  constantly tries to determine how and what we think.

 

A great example of this would be in politics. How many of us are democratic or republican simply because our parents taught us that’s how we should think? I am certain that people have literally fought over which candidate has the best plan for healthcare or immigration laws- and most of these people gained their political opinions from their parents. They probably have never even considered whether they actually agreed with the opinion they were taught to worship. With that being said, I believe it’s time to break the mold. To anyone that’s reading this, don’t be scared to think differently. As McCloud states, “the richness of modern language is an irreplaceable commodity” (McCloud 818), so let’s use it to think outside of the box!